Over the past year, 1,924 Irish companies held a combined average of €1.3bn asset based finance at one time, according to figures released by the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA), which represents the asset-based finance industry in the UK and Ireland.

The association also revealed the sales turnover generated by Irish companies relying on asset based finance reached €5.2bn in the year ending in March 2014, representing an 8% increase on the same period in 2013.

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The association argued the growth figures showed the extent of the support Irish firms had gained from asset based finance during the surveyed period.

Advances to companies exceeding €100m in sales grew 20% from €185m in the last quarter of 2013 to €223m in the first three months of 2014.

Meanwhile, advances to companies with sales under €500,000 boomed, growing 123% from €52m to €116m.

Eddie Brown, chairperson of ABFA Ireland and managing director of Ulster Bank Invoice Finance, confirmed that cash flow remains "the number one concern" for many businesses in the country: "We are acutely aware of the difficulties that exist when it comes to maintaining a healthy cash flow but there are solutions."

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"As trading conditions continue to place pressures on cash flow, invoice finance is a smart funding option that can release much needed cash to businesses that sell on credit terms."

He added that demand for invoice finance was rising to unprecedented levels, as the economy embarked on the road to recovery: "Invoice finance is playing a bigger role than ever in funding the growth of Irish businesses, and has truly stepped into the mainstream of business funding.

"Since the credit crunch, invoice finance has become an even more important source for SMEs for funding as they struggled to access traditional term loans," he explained.

"Now, as the economy recovers, more and more businesses are using it to fund their growth, and that has pushed demand for funding to levels we haven’t seen before."